Taiwan has warned that it will treat any Chinese penetration of the island’s airspace as a “first strike”, as Taipei seeks to deter Beijing from stepping up military pressure around the island.
Bloomberg news agency reported that Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told lawmakers in Taipei that the ministry will treat these violations more seriously after a series of flights of Chinese warplanes and drones near Taiwan’s airspace.
When asked whether any intrusion of a warplane into Taiwan’s airspace would be considered a first strike, the minister replied, “Yes,” without specifying what the reaction would be.
“In the past, we said we wouldn’t be the first to strike, which means we wouldn’t do it without them firing artillery or rockets first,” he added.
“But now the definition has changed, as China uses methods such as drones, so we had to make an adjustment, and we will consider any transit of aircraft or missiles as a first strike,” he explained.